The full-scale trade war Trump is ramping up with China may be rooted in justifiable resentment about unfair practices as China has aggressively undercut the global market with state subsidies and systematic cyber theft and forced technology transfer. But he’s playing his usual game of chicken which is making the markets and companies like Apple, Cisco, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and General Motors extremely nervous. One commentator said: “I don’t see any off-ramp. There is going to have to be a lot of pain before anybody backs away.”
Trump’s trade war strategy completely overlooks modern-day interlocking global supply chains. If he charges ahead as he has promised he will be shutting down Sino-American Pacific trade. Playing who blinks first could be playing with fire.
Trump’s relationship chart with China has an awesomely difficult composite Pluto, Sun, Saturn, Mars conjunction so no surprises it presses his hot buttons. And his chart relocated to China puts his explosive Mars and hostile Pluto straddling the Descendant.
His relationship chart with Xi Jinping has a power-struggling-for-the-upper-hand composite Jupiter Pluto, so for either to back down won’t be a palatable option. It will get heated come this December and January 2019 with tr Uranus square the composite Mars.
The USA/China relationship chart looks fraught this month and next; and will be edgy and deflated in 2019 but nothing too dramatic.
Trump’s view is if he slaps on trade tariffs that China will bend the knee and give in. Though as per usual he’s almost certainly under estimated his opponent and once Wall Street starts showing the effects he may have to back off.
See China economy post August 16 2018.
Trump placing more tariffs on China this week. Now half of all Chinese imports to the US will lhave a tariff. This round is on TVs, toys, appliances, Apple products, more.